My Story: PostGryffindor by Harry J Potter
by PeaceLoveandSoftball
Summary: Forbidden love? Tension? A rising evil from the dark side? Can Harry overcome his own emotional battles to save the lives of the ones he loves? Hear all about it from Harry himself! Slight affair fic.
1. Preface

I know Ron's my best friend, but I just can't get over Hermione.

And yes, I also know Ginny loves me, too, but is it really right to go on this way? Hermione had been just a friend who happened to be a girl, but now…now, she's become way more. I'm so confused because I don't know what I am supposed to feel. So what if I am Harry Potter, defeater of Voldemort? I am not Chuck Norris! People have to realize that I can't figure out everything.


	2. Chapter 1

It all started in my first year at Hogwarts. The bushy-haired, buck-toothed Hermione Granger welcomed me into a seat on the Hogwarts Express. Ron, scrawny and red-haired, instantly became my best friend—it just clicked. And even though I had just met her, I knew there was something special about Hermione by the way she said "Oculus Repairo" to fix my embarrassing broken glasses.

Oh yes, things were good. Ron, Hermione, and I were all sorted into Gryffindor—thank goodness; I would have died if I had been placed in Slytherin.

But, anyway, all through first year, Hermione and I spent loads of time together, (with Ron) and we even managed to work together to get rid of Professor Quirrel. When I pulled my wand from that horrid troll's bogies, I thought 'Mione would kiss me right then and there. I wish…

So all through school at Hogwarts, Hermione and I were best friends. (And of course, Ron) It seemed like there was a time every year that I was in love with her. But then I would remember that Ron fancied her, and I would go for other sweet girls, like the lovely Cho Chang. Then, a few years later came Ginny Weasley, the cute, quiet girl with the sweetest strawberry hair. This innocent little girl soon became my all grown-up soul mate. We fell in love.

Of course, not long after 7th year ended, Ginny and I got married. The day our lips met at our wedding was probably the second happiest I have ever felt in my life—other than when my lovely children were born.

But the first happiest was in early June, two summers ago, there in my bedroom with none other than the clever, but oh, so beautiful, Hermione Jean Granger-Weasley. Ron, Ginny, and the Weasley children were at a Weasley-only family reunion. In-laws were not invited. Hermione and I were left to babysit for a whole two weeks. There we were resting on my bed, chatting, while the kids were already tucked in their beds.

"Shew, I don't see how you deal with those revolting children of yours, Harry," Hermione told me, an exhausted smile hinting at her lips. Man, they were so tempting. I chuckled.

"I do pretty well with them, I think. Probably better than Ginny. And you and Ron—don't get me started on how awful you handle your children. You think mine are rowdy!" Of course, I was only picking fun, but Hermione always did take things literally.

"Oh, yes, of course, Harry," she spat. "The amazing _Harry Potter_ is _always _the best at _everything_. How _dare _you insult my children! You think just because of your name you can say anything you want? Well, no, I, for one, absolutely will not stand for it you filthy, inconsiderate jerk! Now, excuse me while I go deal with your crying little brats!"

She stormed out and slammed the door. Shocked, I sat down on mine and Ginny's queen bed. Maybe I was a little big-headed. I looked around the room. Home. Ginny. Pictures everywhere. I gazed into a photo; the bride and groom. I stared into Ginny's eyes. Our wedding picture was so lovely, almost perfect. I knew that just my thoughts and longings for Hermione were destroying my marriage. But I couldn't help it. I just couldn't.

As I began to feel tears stinging my eyes, the door burst open. Hermione rushed in, sobbing lightly. She ran to me, arms open wide, and she fell into my arms, throwing her face into my shoulder. "Oh, Harry," she whispered. I stared into those chocolate eyes as she looked up at me.

"I know that I hurt your feelings," she said, as she wiped a fallen tear from my cheek. "I just get all carried away and..." but the rest of her words were drowned out by me, leaning down to kiss her. At first, she was shocked and had no reaction at all. However, as she came into reality, she smiled into the kiss. As she fell limp into my embrace, her arms snaked around my neck and I ran my hands through her soft fragrant hair. Her lips were so sweet, and we both began to cry even harder. She caressed my cheek as we had to let go of this perfect, yet so guilt-filled moment.

"Harry…" she started.

"I know," I whispered, grabbing her hand, "best friends forever, right?"

She nodded. "But that's now what I was going to say," she said. _Oh no!_ I thought. My relationship with Hermione had gone from good to bad within a matter of seconds. "What I was going to say was," she began, "_that_ was brilliant."

And with that she got on her tiptoes and kissed me tenderly on the corner of my mouth, the kiss softly lingering.

"Night," she said, and walked to the door, winking as she disappeared behind it.

I touched where she had kissed me. Just something like that had me anxious, awaiting to see—for the first time in months—what was in store for me the next day.

My dreams; my awful, cruel, yet so _perfect_ dreams had come true. Ginny…she would kill me. I loved her…right? Right? I mean, I married her. And James, Lily, Albus—I can't do that to my children.

I thought, _"We'll have to see what tomorrow brings—perhaps, oh, I shouldn't say this; more snogs?"_


	3. Chapter 2

"Harry! You'd better wake up if you expect this day to be less hectic than yesterday."

I heard Hermione whispering in my ear after quietly entering the room. As I woke up, I saw a glimpse of the dazzling sunrise shining through my burgundy curtains.

"Morning 'Mione," I said, getting out of bed and stepping into my slippers. Hermione smiled at me.

"Yes, Harry, glad to see you are awake this morning. I'm making some biscuits for us." She was always so resourceful. Hermione was oddly pleasant this morning. I liked that.

"Yeah, thanks," I yawned, "I think I'll take a quick shower, okay?"

"Sure. I'll wake up the kids."

As Hermione strolled back to the kitchen in her pink robe, I made my way toward the bathroom, picking up soft towels and a washcloth along the way. I threw my pajamas in the hamper and turned on the faucet.

As I felt the warm water drizzle through my hair and stream down my face, I began to think of Ginny. Last year, I had taken Ginny to the fair for Valentine's Day. It was pouring the rain and we were absolutely drenched, but it was still so romantic, just because we were together. She sat in my lap on the Ferris wheel, and we were the only ones on the entire thing. I held her gentle hands we laughed at our own stupidity. Ginny always did have the brightest sense of humor, laughing at everything and finding all the good. Ginny always made me feel so special.

But so did Hermione. Why? Why did I ever give up on her? She—Hermione—was perfect for me. I knew, no matter how terrible, deceitful, and dishonest it was, that I was in love with Hermione.

* * *

I rinsed out my hair and hopped out of the shower, feeling refreshed. I quickly dried off and threw on a tan sweater with jeans.

I walked out of my bedroom after putting on my glasses and bounded out the kitchen door, excited, yet anxious, to talk to Hermione about my new discovery of emotion, even if she did hit me in the face with a frying pan. I had to get this off my chest.

"'Mione, I have to—"

"DADDY! Good morning!" It was James, always the morning youngster. I guess Hermione had woken up the children.

"Hey, buddy. Morning James, Lily, Albus! I love you all my rascals! Give Daddy a hug!" They all leapt at me and smothered me in their embraces. "What did Aunt 'Mione make for breakfast today, kids?" I asked them.

Lily, forever the outspoken one, decided to fill me in. "Hermione made us, um; she made us sausages and her yummy yummy homemade biscuits!"

"Ooh, that's great honey! Did you kids already eat up while I was in the shower?" I _had_ to get them to go upstairs or outside—I needed to talk to Hermione.

"Yep, Dad," said Albus, "and Aunt Hermione said that we could go play out back if you let us. Even Teddy! He made this neat new game and it's really fun and I can't wait to play it and—"

I chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it. Go on, kids! Go play—stay in the yard though."

They jumped up and ran out the back door, giggling and planning out their imaginative ideas. As I watched them through the white glass door, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Hermione was smiling at me.

"I guess you're not so bad with kids," she told me with a smirk.

I grinned. "Neither are you…Hey, uh, Hermione, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, Harry. What is it?" she asked. We sat down across from each other at the oak dining table.

I took a deep breath and began. "Okay, look, I…I've been thinking about yesterday, what happened and all. Then it got me thinking about you and me all through school, and I don't know…I know that this is terribly, terribly wrong, but—"

"But you have finally just realized that you've always loved me and all you want is to spend time with me every second of every minute of every single day because I can't get enough of you Harry Potter!" she cut me off short.

I was dumbfounded. And despicably excited.

"How? Wha—"

"Harry. I've done my share of thinking too, and, oh this guilty feeling is terrible." She stopped. "Oh, Harry James Potter, I am madly in love with you and I can't bear myself any longer. It is so terrible, yet so beautiful. I thought I was endlessly in love with Ronald, but oh, Harry, I love you."

"Oh, Hermione,"

"Harry…"

By now we were both crying, but smiling through our tears.

She stood up, walked to my chair and flung herself on my lap. Sobbing, she threw her arms around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her, hardly able to maintain my relative composure. It took all I had not to start bawling and snot-slinging all over a brand new box of tissues, but I couldn't make a scene.

"Hermione," I sniffed, "What are we going to do?"

"I have an idea," she said quietly through her tears.

She lifted her head from my shoulders and gazed into my eyes. Her sparkling eyes were so beautiful. She leaned her head toward me, with a hesitant smile. She closed her eyes and I touched my lips softly to hers. This was wrong. So wrong. But it was also so…good.

This kiss reminded me of my first one with Cho—wet. But Cho's was not nearly as genuine as this one. This kiss was even different than the one on the day before. This was not a tempting little peck, but one of caring and passion. Our terribly awful forbidden love was blossoming.

The kiss ended and she wiped off her eyes with her robe's sleeve. "Well," she said, straightening up her posture, "I think I'll go take a shower. It's only 9:30 you know."

"Yeah, um, I'll clean up the plates and stuff, while you're at it. I may as well be worth something on this baby-sitting job," I answered, wiping off my face to make it more presentable.

"Oh, yes, thanks, Harry. What is today, Monday? Ronald and Ginny won't come back from the family reunion till Saturday."

"Yep." That was all I could stand to say. I would not be able to live with myself. What if Ginny or Ron found out? Ginny would be heartbroken, and Ron would slit my throat.

Hermione strolled towards the bathroom, across from James and Albus's bedroom. Just as she began to turn on the lights, a loud crash startled me. Lily, my oldest child, at 8, burst through the back door, Teddy Lupin, Hugo Weasley, and my youngest son, Albus.

"DAD!" Lily yelled, "You have to come out here! You have got to help us!"

I was scared. "Help you do wha—"

"WHERE'S AUNT HERMIONE?!"

Hermione came rushing into the kitchen. "I'm right here, Lily, what is—"

"ROSE! AND JAMES! THE MAN! THEY—"

"Spit it out, Lily!" Hermione was frightened, I could tell.

"THEY'RE GONE!"

As soon as I heard my daughter say this, my heart stopped. Time stopped. The room fell silent, except for Lily's nervous panting.

Tears welled up in Albus's eyes. He began to sob and clung to his big sister, burying his face into her yellow t-shirt.

As if it were in slow motion, I turned my head and met Hermione's worried gaze. She, too, began to cry. Our five year-olds were gone. James and Rose were gone. We were left here only with my daughter, three year-old son, and my godson, six year-old Teddy.

I came back into the reality of the moment.

"What happened, Lily?" I asked her. I held her in my arms and rubbed her strawberry blonde hair to comfort her.

Breathing more calmly, she began. "Ok, so we were playing hide-and-seek, and we heard James yell from behind the bushes, and this tall man in a dark black cloak came and whisked him and Rosie away."

Hermione rushed over, holding Hugo and Albus in her arms, and holding Teddy's hand. "What did he look like, honey?" she asked.

"I couldn't see his face. But he had bright platinum blonde hair," Lily replied.

I knew it in an instant. That loser of an idiot took my son. And my niece. I would murder him if I had to. I would hunt him down.

"Malfoy." That was all I could say.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Reviews, reviews, reviews! I need to know what you all are thinking! Thanks soo much for taking time to read my story! Still working on it, but there are great things in store. (Oh, and I don't own any of these characters or anything.) Enjoy!**

I called up Luna Lovegood. I knew that she would always be there to help me. She was such a good friend.

"Hello?" I heard her light voice from the telephone.

"Luna, it's Harry," I began. "Something terribly wrong has happened."

"What is it? Harry, what—"she started.

"Okay, listen. You know how Ron and Ginny always go to that Weasley reunion—the one that spouses and kids can't go to? Well, Hermione and I are here taking care of the children, right?"

"Harry, what's so wrong with—"

"Luna! Just LISTEN to me!" I shouted over the phone. "This morning, the kids were playing outside, and, according to them, a tall man in a dark cloak came and took James and Rose! They've been kidnapped." I could hear Luna's faint, worried gasp.

"Harry…I…am…so sorry!" she said, bewildered. "Can I help you in any way? Who was it? Do you have any leads? Are the other children o—"

"YES," I cut in, "You can help, thanks so much for asking. I need you to make sure the other children are _completely_ safe while I go destroy this crook. Oh, and by the way, it was…Draco…"

Silence. I couldn't even hear breathing. No gasp, no sobbing, no angry beating of the walls. "Luna? Luna! Where'd you go? Luna!? Hello?"

Oh, no. He hadn't taken her, too? Why? I swore, when I got to him, I would personally _make it positive_ that _Malfoy_, that bloody nutcase would suffer a terrible, painful death. I slammed the phone to the hook on the wall and kicked at the walls, when suddenly, I heard a loud crack. I drew my wand, prepared to kill if it had been that grimy, stupid—

"Harry Potter."

I spun around and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Luna.

"As soon as you said 'Draco' I absolutely _had_ to apparate here." She walked closer to me, resting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I am so sorry. I will do anything. Where are the little ones? I brought along some narkle blood, to protect them on the apparating journey back to my home."

"Yes, yes, that's, um…great, Luna. The kids are in their rooms, packing. I'm not sure if they are more sad or petrified. All I know is I can't possibly thank you enough for helping us out, Luna," I told her. Narkle blood? Was that even safe? I sighed. She was the best help I had and I trusted her.

Luna strolled to the kids' bedrooms, knocking on the door.

"Albus! Kids! Hello, everyone." They ran to her, crying.

_Sniff. _"Lu-lu," said Albus "are we going to your house?"

"Yes, sweetie," Luna answered softly.

"Is James and Rosie there?" asked Albus, wiping his tears.

Lily, through her tears, nearly exploded. "Albus! You know good and well that they are _NOT THERE! _ Why do you even bother?"

She slowed, shocked at her sudden behavior, breathing quickly and sharply, with an anxious face.

Albus began to cry harder, burying his face into Teddy's arm.

Lily did not know what to say, I'm sure. She was just so overwhelmed. "A-Albus, I'm sorry, I…I was just, I'm sorry, Albus, I—"

Albus sniffed, looking up at his sister. "It's alwight, Lily. I know how you awe feeling, sissy. I just want bubby back."

"I know you do Albus, I know." She took him in her arms and they both sobbed quietly. Luna gazed on them and smiled weakly. "Come, children, we must go," she said. "It isn't safe here anymore."

The sound of those words melted my heart. My very own home that I had worked so hard to support was not a place for my children to be. I had just wanted them to have a safe life, without all the junk and tragedy that soiled mine. But now it was too late.

"Go on, kids," I muttered, fighting back the tears. "Luna will take you where you need to go."

"But, Daddy, I want to help you find James."

"No, Lily, "I told her. "It is too dangerous."

She stared at me with those watery blue eyes and finally understood that she needed to listen. "Okay. Fine. Let's go, Albus, Teddy, and Hugo. Hello, Miss Luna." My bossy daughter. "Come on little ones, let's go! Dad's got work to do."

Luna smiled. "Good day, Lily. Here, let us go now, dears. Come, children...Good luck, Harry. Just call me if you need absolutely anything else."

"Thanks, Luna. Bye kids." I hugged them all, even Teddy and Hugo. "I love you all. I want you to always remember that."

Teddy smiled and said, "We love you too, Harry."

Luna took the kids and placed some weird sort of necklace with lockets full of—narkle blood, I expect—something dark plum in color. Whatever she needed to do was fine. I had to find my son and my niece. And more importantly, kill Draco Malfoy.

**Sorry about the cliff hanger! But don't worry, I'll keep it going—busy schedule though! Reviews welcome!**


	5. Chapter 4

"So where do you think he is?" Hermione sat across from me in my dining room.

"I have no clue. I don't know where to start, what to say, what to think, or where to look. I have no idea, Hermione!"

She looked at me, wringing her hands on the table. "I don't know, either, Harry. But I _do _know that we can't do this."

"Hermione! Since when are you such a downer? You know we can beat Malfoy!"

"Harry, you blundering idiot!" she said, rolling her eyes. "I mean we can't just sit here and wallow in our sorrows. We've got to make a plan and do something."

I was so stupid sometimes. "Oh. Yeah. Well, let's think."

She sat there for a moment, thinking intently. "Okay, so…what would make him want to steal our children, Harry?"

"Oh, I don't know—maybe the fact that we were his childhood archenemies? Psh, that's not a motive or anything. Come on, Hermione. He hates us. I'm pretty sure we know the 'why'."

"Harry! Stop it. This is not a time to be so sarcastic. I'm serious. That may not be the _whole_ reason why."

What was she talking about? It was obvious to me. She saw my pointed expression and replied with an agitated look.

"What I mean is," she started, "maybe something sudden has caused this. I mean, why now? He hasn't ever targeted the kids before. Actually, he hasn't had anything to do with us in a long time."

"You're right, Hermione. Let's see. You know, I really haven't heard anything from or about him lately. Only that he and Pansy divorced a year or two ago. She took Scorpious with her, though I'm not sure where they moved to. But I've heard nothing, since that news."

Hermione pondered, still and relaxed. "Harry, I just don't know. I—nothing fits. Nothing makes any sense. Maybe we need to call for help. The police, maybe? And most definitely, we need to tell Ronald and Ginny. We need their help."

"Yeah, let's go. Come on, take my hand. Or should we travel by floo?"

"Eh, no, the floo network is too closely monitored and easily accessible."

"Okay, then, let's apparate."

* * *

"HARRY!" Mrs. Weasley came running at me from her post at the stove. "Glad to have you here at the burrow, love! But, dear, you know this is a pure Weasley-only event. Is something wrong?"

_Crack._

"Well, Hermione! You're here as well? What happened to the 'no in-law' rule?!"

Hermione shot a look at me. "Um, Mrs. Weasley, it's a long story, really, I'm sorry. But we need to speak to Ronald and Ginny. Um, now."

Mrs. Weasley, with a curious brow raised, yelled, "Ron! Ginny! Get down here!"

I heard giggles and guffaws from the floor above us. Mrs. Weasley smiled apologetically.

"RONALD WEASLEY! You and your sister _get down here_!"

A series of _crack_s caught me by surprise. Suddenly, all the Weasleys appeared. Ron, Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, Percy, and Ginny came from absolutely nowhere.

Ron, chuckling, said, "What, Mum?"

"Yeah!" chimed Fred. "We were testing our newest product, an event during which we don't like to be disturbed, of course."

"Indeed, it was invisible sn—"

"George! Fred! I don't care. And was it really necessary to apparate? Walk down the stairs for the love of garden gnomes! Ronald, Ginny, _they _wanted you."

Ginny looked confused. She and Ron turned around to look at us with perplexed expressions.

"What the bloody h—"

"Ronald, shut up! Harry, dear! I've missed you. How are our darling children?" Ginny ran up to me and hugged my neck. A twinge of guilt tugged in my gut as I remembered the morning and night before with Hermione.

"Actually, Ginny, um, that's sort of what we're here for," Hermione began.

"Well, Hermione, what is it? Are Rose and Hugo alright?" Ron was worried and aggravated.

Hermione and I exchanged quick nervous glances. With a gulp, I said, "They—well, see, this morning, the kids were outside playing and, well, Hermione and I were, um, cleaning up the breakfast dishes, when Lily came running in all scared-like."

"What happened, Harry?!" Ginny was uneasy already. I just couldn't bring myself to tell her.

"They're gone," said Hermione. "James and Rose have been kidnapped. By Malfoy."

Complete silence filled the Burrow.

"Wha—How did this happen? Did you not see the man? Why just James and Rose?" Ron was distraught, shakily running his hands through his long red hair.

Hermione spoke. "They were playing 'hide-and-seek', apparently. In the Potters' _fenced-in_ backyard. I've no idea how he did it. But the kids saw him: tall, slender, distinctive platinum hair. It could only be Malfoy. All I know is we've got to do something. Fast."

* * *

"I'm gonna kill him. He is going to die. I swear, when I get my hands on that bloody—"

"Ronald, hush! You can't do this. We all want to murder Draco! He took our children! But we can't just focus on how we're going to slit his throat; we've got to find him first! And more importantly, we've got to find our children. We've got to be logical, dear." Hermione, of course, was lecturing on.

It was already half-past noon, and we still had no lead.

Ginny was heartbroken. She laid her head on my shoulder and wept like a child. Suddenly, she raised her head. "Harry," she said.

"Yes, Ginny?"

"Do you remember, a couple of months ago, when Minerva came over for dinner one evening?"

"Why, yes, of course. It was great. But what does this have to do with—"

"Professor McGonagall said something about…oh, what was it…about some sort of mischief going on at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, yeah, she did…She said, oi, I can't remember…OH! She said that someone had broken into Dumbledore's old office!"

Hermione shot in. "Don't you mean Headmaster Snape's?"

"No, Hermione," I said. "They retired Dumbledore's office. Severus got a different one."

"Yes, Hermione, Harry's right." Ginny had wiped her tears and regained her composure by then.

I started to think. "Do you remember what she said was taken?" I asked Ginny.

She thought for a moment. "Hm. No, she didn't say."

"Well, we need to find out. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, make sure you've got your wands. Let's go. We're off to Hogwarts."

**Once again, sorry for these cliffhangers! I just needed to find a good place to break in the story. Keep reading and thank you to all of those who are! Review, review, review, and if you are enjoying my story, tell me and tell all your friends! Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 5

Ah, it was a familiar scene. Good old Platform 9 ¾. But now there were not young witches and wizards crowding the station. Actually, it was pretty empty, really.

For no particular reason we had chosen to ride the train to Hogwarts. Mostly to make sure we stayed together and had a lesser chance of getting hurt, as opposed to flying. With all that junk involving Malfoy, we couldn't take any risks quite that soon.

After years of practice, each of us slipped through the portal with ease.

"Guys, we've got to get to the bottom of this," Hermione said as she entered through the portal.

"Yes, Hermione, you're right. We should discuss our thoughts more once we're on the train, yes?" Ginny was still shaken, as were the rest of us. But we were ready to fight, now, rather than pout.

A crowd had accumulated around the platform, no doubt for one of the summer Quidditch games. As the train pulled in, we boarded the familiar Hogwarts Express.

* * *

We were together in our seats on the train, reminding us all of our great Hogwarts memories, though we didn't discuss them. This mission had a strict purpose.

Ron was talking about some things that had happened in the Ministry of Magic since he had worked there, when suddenly, a voice frightened me. A harsh whisper that sounded so familiar…

"_Harry...Potter. Harry. Do you think you can find me? Ha ha ha! Stupid, stupid Potter." _

No. No! It couldn't be him. Voldemort was dead. I watched him die! But this was…parseltongue again! But how? How? Who?

"Harry? Harry? Harry…"

I saw Hermione's worried face as everything around me blurred into a painful fog. My scar…it stung again. Oh, it was terrible. I felt the sharp pain running through my forehead, like knives stabbing me over and over until I couldn't bear it any longer.

The colors in the train spun and swirled into a green cyclone and I saw something in my mind of a viper striking into the darkness.

* * *

"Well, he's still got a bit of a fever, bless its heart. Not sure when he'll wake. Ah, I remember doctoring up his arm after that Quidditch fall. Poor dear. Op, I see his eyes. Harry, dear?"

I opened my eyes to see Madam Pomfrey standing over me.

I blinked slowly. I was in the Hogwarts hospital wing. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Madam Pomfrey, Snape, and McGonagall were hovering over the hospital bed.

Severus drifted closer to my pillow. "Well, Potter. What brings you here, in such an unfortunate state?"

I sat up slowly, resting my forearms on the bed. "Well, actually Professor Snape, it's a rather lengthy story."

Hermione cut in. "Um, yes, Professor. You see, we need your help. Along with Professor McGonagall's."

Minerva stepped forward in her long, flowing robes. "Ms. Granger, er, _Mrs. Weasley_," she began with a hesitant glance at Ron. Now, first of all I'd like to know what exactly happened to Mr. Potter."

"Well, Professor, we had set off to seek your help at first. We were almost to Hogwarts, when, well, actually, I'm not sure what happened. Harry just…fainted." Hermione laid her hand on my shoulder.

My skin tingled and my muscles seemed to tense at her touch. I gulped, fighting back the temptation, and tried to remember exactly what had gone on.

"Well, we were talking about…about Malfoy, and well, I don't know why, but my scar started to hurt again, just all of a sudden." Everyone's faces were worried and a bit frightened, even. "And what was even weirder," I continued, "is that I heard…parseltongue again. I don't know how, or why, or who. But then I saw like a vision or something of…a viper."

"Parseltongue, Harry!? That's not possible. Voldemort is dead. Right? He can't possibly come back again, could he, Professor Snape?" Hermione frantically began to press her temples as she thought and panicked. She looked up. "Professor?"

Severus did not move. He stood calmly, but with a disturbed gaze.

"Miss…Mrs. Weasley," began McGonagall, "We mustn't—"

"Hold…on…a moment," murmured Professor Snape, raising his hand to his chin. "Potter," he said, "you say you saw…a viper?"

"Yes, sir."

"Interesting. And, may I ask, was the viper doing anything?"

"Well, it struck, and hissed. Then it was just darkness. "

"And…the viper…What color?"

"Um, I believe it was green. But why—"

"Shh. This is very intriguing…Potter. I'd like to meet with you. Privately, please, in my office. Madam Pomfrey, is this okay?"

Pomfrey smiled weakly. "Why, yes, of course. He's in fine condition now."

* * *

Now, tell me, Potter. What did it say?" Professor Snape sat across from me at his desk, curiously rubbing his chin.  
"Well. I heard my name. And then it said…oh, it said 'D'you think you can find me now?' with a cold, raspy laugh."

"Hmm…can you…elaborate a bit more?" Snape asked slowly. "The laugh—was it like the Dark Lord's as you remember it?"

"Well, oddly, no. I mean, yes, it was raspy, but it seemed more…human-like, you know? It seemed like less of a _creature _than Voldemort's. Do you think it could be him though?, Severus?"

"No, Harry, I don't…It is most likely Draco. How he learned the art of parseltongue is indeed a mystery however. But it is obvious that he has taken your children for a purpose other than having an interest in young people. And that is to get _you_. It is to get you when you are weakest."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, Potter. Obviously, we are going to have to track him down. Now, Harry, pay close attention."

"Yes, sir." I intently listened to my former professor.

"Draco grew up with you. He knows you will always do anything for your loved ones' safety. He _knows_ that is your weakness. And, Harry, you direly need to be able to keep your strength, even when he targets your—"

_Crack._

"Ha ha ha. Clever, Professor Snape. Very Clever."

Snape and I stood quickly, whipping out our wands to face Malfoy. He was there—right in front of me. I could have killed him right then. But the kids were my top priority. I had to get them first.

"Where are they, Malfoy?! Tell me _now._"

The idiot chuckled. "Well! Someone's getting touchy, now aren't we Potter? Ha! If you only had _any idea,_ those pests of children would be the very least of your worries," he snickered with a vile smirk.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted. Malfoy's wand shot across the room.

I rushed toward him, pinning that jerk against the office wall.

"Ha ha. Oh, Potter. You haven't changed a bit. How you amuse me! _Accio wand._" His wand flew back to his pale hands. "Watch yourself, Potter." _Crack. _ He disappeared.

* * *


End file.
